Siege of Sanjo

The Siege of Sanjo (1564) was a battle of the Sengoku Period of Japan. The Takeda clan army of Shingen Takeda laid siege to the city of Sanjo, defended by the daimyo Kenshin Uesugi of the Uesugi clan, and they stormed it during winter.

Background
Shingen Takeda of the Takeda clan of Kai Province and Kenshin Uesugi of the Uesugi clan of Echigo Province were great rivals (at times allies), and the two clashed frequently over the Kanto region of central Japan. In 1561 the two sides fought the inconclusive Battle of Kawanakajima, which failed to resolve the dispute between the two clans. They resolved to fight each other until one emerged as the victor, so in 1564 Shingen Takeda gathered a large army of Takeda soldiers and besieged the Uesugi fortress of Sanjo in the winter.

Siege
Shingen himself oversaw the siege from his chair, and his army waited outside of the castle. He sent out his champion Eto Katsuhito to meet the Uesugi champion, Nakada Toshikuni. Katsuhito met Toshikuni in a duel on the snowy ground in front of the castle, and Toshikuni was slashed across the right waist during the duel. As Katsuhito returned to the Takeda lines, he was felled by a flock of arrows, so Shingen ordered the Takeda army to charge the Uesugi castle. After a bloody fight, the Takeda army conquered the castle.